Back to the drawing board for pier plans

8:16am Saturday 11th November 2006

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Plans for a rollercoaster and leisure complex at Southend Pier have been withdrawn at the last minute to avoid being rejected by councillors.

The scheme, by Epic World Leisure Group, which is run by Thorpe Bay businessman Tony Garner, were being recommended for refusal at the development control committee meeting on Wednesday.

Mr Garner's original plans for the giant Swine rollercoaster at the pierhead were agreed in principle by the former Lib Dem and Labour administration in 2000.

However, they were never implemented after disputes arose over the funding of the plans.

The latest schemes are for a much more comprehensive redevelopment of the pier, with new amusements, a tower ride and leisure facilities at the pierhead, as well as a new pavilion at the pier entrance.

This time, officers said there would have been serious problems with the scheme regarding flooding impact, the environmental impact assessment report and that it would have been inappropriate for the setting of the pier as a listed building.

Mr Garner said: "We are going to withdraw the application at this stage, because it is clear the council is again demanding more information apart from the amount we have already given them.

"To a certain extent, we are being bulldozed over the scheme and I want to ensure everything is right before we go ahead with it."

Mr Garner will be talking about his plans for the pier at a meeting of the Royal Institute of British Architects at the Freight House, in Rochford, on Wednesday, November 29.